Appeal No. 2005-0222 Page 2
Application No. 09/923,629
(c) transesterifying the partial glycerides with a lower alcohol in the
presence of a basic catalyst under mild transesterification conditions to
form fatty acid alkyl esters and glycerol;
(d) removing excess lower alcohol, the basic catalyst, the glycerol and
the fatty acid alkyl esters, to form a bottom product comprising the sterol
esters; and
(e) transesterifying the sterol esters at a temperature of from 115°C to
145°C and a pressure of from 2 to 10 bar for a period of from 3 to 10
hours to form free sterols.
The examiner relies upon the following references:
Hunt (Hunt ‘669) 5,670,669 Sep. 23, 1997
Hunt et al. (Hunt ‘252) 5,703,252 Dec. 30, 1997
Hernandez et al. (Hernandez) 6,448,423 Sep. 10, 2002
Claims 1-3, 6-9 and 13-31 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) over
the combination of Hunt ’252 and Hunt ’669. In addition, claims 4 and 5 stand
rejected as obvious over the previous combination as further combined with
Hernandez. After careful review of the record and consideration of the issues
before us, we reverse both rejections.
DISCUSSION
Claims 1-3, 6-9 and 13-31 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) over
the combination of Hunt ’252 and Hunt ’669.
The rejection asserts that based on the teachings of the two Hunt patents,
“the recovery of sterols from starting materials containing fatty and sterol
compounds such as vegetable oils by a process comprising the removal of the
free fatty acids by esterification; transesterification of the fatty acid glyceride
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